Meeting in convention in Mt. Pleasant yesterday, the South Carolina Green Party chose Eugene Platt as its nominee for the South Carolina First Congressional District seat. Platt will face off against the winners of the Republican and Democratic primaries in the general election. This was the first contest with more than one candidate seeking the SCGP nomination for any office, and Platt is the only candidate of any third party who will be running in this general election. Platt is also the only Green currently holding an elective office in South Carolina. Here is the link to his campaign website.

I believe GOP candidate Keith Blandford (the LP’s 2010 and 2012 candidate in the same district) struck a deal by which if he wins the primary on March 19th he will become the LP nominee as well as the GOP one. If he loses, the LP won’t field anyone. I wish Blandford luck, and also wish that he would have been endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC). Sadly, he was not.

Mr Blandford was our 2010 and 2012 nominee, but there is no deal in the works, nor is one legal.

If Mr Blandford (or Mr Kuhn who is the other LP member running as a Republican) wish to file to seek our nomination then they have exactly…ummm…thinking…FIVE DAYS TO FILE.

Both candidates know the rules. I explained it to both personally, and Mr Blandford heard it again from myself and others at our state convention in January. He has to file. No deals, no backroom fixes. He has to file and be voted on by the state committee.

If a candidate files with the party to seek a “fusion” nomination, the second party (the LP in this case) would have to recall its convention. This normally requires 21 days notice. There are now twelve days left until the certification deadline, so there is no longer time to recall the convention.

In this situation, state law allows the state executive committee to vote on nominating the candidate. State law requires that a party’s state committee be given at least five days notice for a state chair to call us together for a special meeting. This would, at the latest, be next Wednesday evening (the deadline being noon the next day), so five days from now it will be too late for the state chair to call us to Columbia to meet.

That said, we have met twice since the convention. If a candidate thinks that he or she is going to get our nomination by waiting until the last minute and forcing all of us to spend $30-$40 on gas (my round trip is 250 miles) and make us go to Columbia a second time this month…well…he better be making a very good case!

It is unlikely that Mr Blandford would get a majority of the committee to vote for him at this late date. In fact, it is darn near impossible.

Even if a candidate did get the support of our committee, staying on the ballot still requires also winning the other party’s primary (as you previously noted).

Why someone would spend nearly $3K to file as a Republican in a race with 15 other candidates and absolutely no chance to be in the face-off with the Democrat and Green candidates when our party actually recalled our convention in January to allow for nomination of a candidate is beyond comprehension. We have no filing fees.

While I disagree with some of Mr Platt’s political views, I do know him and can assure you that his ethics are of a much higher caliber than several of the “front runner” Republicans are. Mr Platt serves on the council of the only town in our state with a Libertarian Mayor. A Green and a Libertarian on the same city council. Looks like James Island’s citizens vote for the person, and not just for whoever says they’re a Republican or Democrat. 🙂

Yes, it is still technically possible for Keith Blandford to file, but he now has only four days left, not five.

I am his county party chair, so I am one of the people he can submit paperwork to. He can also file with the state chair, but I know that he hasn’t as of today.